


Christmas at the Museum

by PoppyLoppyZoppy



Category: Night at the Museum (Movies)
Genre: Christmas Party, Homesickness, Loneliness, M/M, Pining, Slow Burn, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2016-02-01
Packaged: 2018-05-09 09:35:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5534939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoppyLoppyZoppy/pseuds/PoppyLoppyZoppy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ahkmenrah is determined to pass the dismal holidays in solitude, until Rebecca realizes what has him down and decides to give him the best Christmas gift she can think of: a chance to meet his favorite night-guard under the mistletoe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One

Part One December in Manhattan had not disappointed, the steps to the museum were dusted with snow, the temperature had dropped and Arhkmenrah was feeling a familiar sadness that seemed to come around once a year. Maybe it was seeing so many happy families in the Christmas commercials, when he need some time away from the others and holed up at the security desk and passed a night watching on Larry's handheld device. Rebecca stopped in some nights, so she and Larry could peruse the amber halls together.

On one such occasion, Ahkmenrah was reclining in Larry's rolling chair, with his sandalled feet up on the round desk and the handheld television only inches from his face. Larry went to unlock the door for the pretty, middle-aged woman, and helped her dust snow from her shoulders. But just then a gargantuan clatter echoed from the back hall, and Larry's head lifted like a dog hearing a whistle.

“Excuse me,” he muttered, already starting to jog away, past the reference desk where Ahkmenrah lazily turned his head to watch the older man go.

Rebecca's heels clicked as she trotted over, and Ahk had to force himself to look up and put on a smile. “Good evening.”

“Hello. What are you watching?” the handsome woman replied. Her hands were folded in that polite way of hers as she looked down on him.

“A Christmas Story.”

“How do you like it?”

“Too many commercials,” Ahk said honestly. “If I see one more fake couple get fake-engaged to sell diamonds, I'm going back in the sarcophagus.”

“Oh.” Her sympathetic smile turned his stomach a bit. “Feeling lonely? I understand.”

“What? No. The greed and insincerity of it is repulsive.”

“Alright. Well, did you want to join me and Larry, make the rounds?”

“No, thank you. I'd rather be alone.”

“If you change your mind, you can come and find us.”

When Larry strutted back into the foyer, he was catching his breath and his skin was aglow. Ahkmenrah watched the nightguard out of the corner of one eye, and Rebecca noticed the Pharaohs bitten lip, his adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed hard.

“Sorry about that,” Larry breathed. “Rex lost traction, took out half the Civil War guys.”

“How are they?”

“No casualties, thankfully. One Confederate guy lost an arm. But we found it. His buddies are sewing it back on for him.” Larry glanced at Ahk, giving a little grin, but then focused back on Rebecca.

_Was he looking to make me smile?_ Ahkmenrah bit his lip again. _No. Don't do that to yourself,_ he thought. _He doesn't open doors for you, or take you for walks. He doesn't care about your smiles, and if Larry doesn't care about them, they're useless things._

“Anyway, we were going to see everyone.” Larry gestured for Rebecca to lead the way.

“Nice seeing you, Ahrkmenrah...”

“Nice to see you, too, Rebecca.” As soon as they had gone, Ahk's scowl returned, and he slouched in Larry's chair once more.

 

-

 

Rebecca clicked up to the desk again on her way out. She was alone, and her shoes echoed off of the high ceilings. It was late, for a regular person, though still early in the night for the inhabitants of the museum.

“Heading home?” Ahk thought he could manage a single pleasantry.

“Yes.”

“Bundle up, it looks chilly out.”

“Will do.” But Rebecca lingered, seeming still to have something to say. “Did you want to come for a walk outside, maybe?”

But Ahkmenrah only scoffed. “I'm an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh in traditional robes, I think I'd stand out walking the streets of twenty-first century Manhattan.”

“Ah. Sorry... You won't see me for about a week. I'm going away for Christmas.”

Why did she insist on trying to befriend him? Whatever her reasons, he tried to sound more friendly. “Family?”

“Yes...”

“That must be wonderful. You can bake cookies, and make snowmen. Have a family dinner. It must be fun to get gifts for the people you love, because you love them. Have you done all your shopping already?”

“Almost.” She waited a second longer before turning with a secret smile and walking out of the front door, into the snowy December night.

Ahk looked around at the upper level's bannisters, strung with tinsel and green garlands. A tree was glowing bright white and red behind him and a moment of singular loneliness struck him.  _Damn Larry_ , he thought, watching the man cross the foyer to lock the door behind Rebecca.  _My loneliness never had an edge like this until I met him. I don't just want him for a lover, I want him for a friend, a family, to share a life with. So I'm hurting in all these ways because he isn't any of them._

Ahk sat up taller as Larry turned and started back to him.

"Everything alright?" the older man pointed a tan finger at him, though he didn't slow his gate as he rounded the reference desk.

"Fine," Ahk said. He watched Larry's hand as it formed a thumb's up, then wafted away with the rest of him.

_Can a person die from not holding someone's hand?_

He sighed.

_You are not a person. You're an ancient mummy._

_But if it could happen, that person would be me, and that hand would be Larry's._


	2. Part Two

The next night was Christmas Eve, and Ahkmenrah as soon as he woke parked himself in the reference desk and turned on the television. But before the first commercial break, a quick rapping came at the front door. He sat up and then frowned.

Rebecca was standing at the front door, her arms loaded up with shopping bags. She beamed, and gave an excited wave.

Ahkmenrah felt himself smiling back without meaning to. He stood and swept across the lobby to her, unlocking the door and immediately offering, “Here, let me unburden you.”

“Oh thank you.” Rebecca's cheeks were rosy red and her brown hair was dusted with snow. She handed off all but one of the bags, the last she tugged away quickly when the pharoah reached for it. “Not that one. Is Larry around?”

Ahk's spirits sank. “He's still on his early rounds. He's probably locking up the African mammals right now... he loves the lions, you know.” _If only I were a lion._

“Good. Don't let him know I'm here yet. But you could go and gather some help. Teddy, Sacajawea, the Huns, the Neanderthals, whoever.”

“Why are we deceiving Larry?”

“Because,” she reached into one bag that Ahk had hold of, and pulled out a dark bottle in a box. “We're having a Christmas party. We have to hurry, though. I need to be on the road tonight.”

Ahkmenrah was smiling, and now walking across the foyer after her with the bags jostling in his arms. “I've never had a Christmas party before, I doubt any of the others have either! What do we need?”

“Well we need tables for the refreshments, and we need music. Someone needs to turn down the lights a bit.”

He set the bags down on the round information desk. “But I still don't understand why we're deceiving Larry? I don't think he would mind a party.”

“That's not the only surprise he's getting tonight. Trust me.”

Her hand rested on Ahkmenrah's bare forearm a moment, and he knew that she meant to be kind, whatever her grander designs were.

“Alright.”

 

-

 

Only twenty minutes later, the foyer was buzzing with life. Huns were stringing Christmas lights from the banners of the second level so they cascaded down to the ground and surrounded the foyer with light. Neanderthals had brought out a table and chairs on the sides of the room and Sacajawea and Rebecca were laying out a punch bowl, a few different bottles, and plates of finger food in plastic wrap.

Ahkmenrah stopped directing the others for a minute to sweep over to the ladies. “It all looks fantastic! Did you make all of this yourself, Rebecca?”

“Most of it, although I did find a Jewish deli open.”

Sacajawea was cleaning up their scraps, and bundling empty bags together. She picked up the black bag to one side of the table that was still full, and offered it to the other woman, casting a glance at Ahkmenrah.

“I've been missing that smile, Ahkmenrah.”

He bashfully turned his gaze to the ground.

“Come with me,” Rebecca said, grabbing his hand to lead him away down a side corridor to the security office. She still had the black bag on one arm.

“Don't you have to get going?”

“I do, but I have to give you your gift, before I go.” She shut the door behind them.

“Gift? You didn't have to get me a gift, Rebecca.” Ahk had taken to looking at the many monitors of security camera displays along the back wall. He saw Larry walking with Teddy through the World War II exhibits and watched them for a moment.

“I wanted to. Here.”

He accepted the bag and peered inside, then blinked. Inside he saw a large bunch of fabric, and removed it slowly. The material was nice, and thick, a pitch black. He held it up. A sweater. Below it, tan pants, a belt, and shoes that smelled strongly of shoe, how else to put it? But he could tell from the feel of them all that they were expensive.

“These are beautiful garments, but aren't they too much?”

“No! I have a great job, I can afford to buy my friend a nice outfit. And here.” She pulled a little black box out of the bottom of the bag, and opened it. A bronze watch sat inside, looking like it had never been touched. “This… I actually bought for my ex husband, the year we split up. A watch can make a man's outfit, you should know that if you're going to dress like a modern man.”

“...Just modern, maybe,” Ahk murmured, and Rebecca cocked her head to one side, not understanding. “You put so much stock in gender in your society, these days, and the rules and expectations for either one are so numerous. It's exhausting to watch. I'm Ahkmenrah; I'm a pharaoh, I'm thousands of years old. That's all.”

“I understand. Are you going to feel comfortable in these clothes, then?”

“Oh, yes, these are beautiful.” Ahk hugged the sweater close to his chest. “Thank you.”

“Go put them on! Don't forget the watch.”

“Okay.”

Ahkmenrah dressed quickly, folding his golden robes and jewelry neatly into a pile. When he emerged from the back of the room again, Rebecca's hand shot to her heart.

“You're beautiful.” The clothes fit Ahk's figure much nicer than the billowy robes had. “So sophisticated.”

_Normal_ , he thought.

“Larry's going to be speechless, for once.”

Ahk found the pockets of his slacks and watched his shoes. “Truthfully, I thought you desired Larry.”

“No. -Well, I maybe thought about it when we first met, but that was a long time ago.”

“Then you aren't pained by… the thought of-?”

“No. If I'm at all envious of you, it's because you get to feel afraid and excited the way you only can when you tell someone you care about them. And that's a beautiful thing.”

He bit his lip, gave a brief nod, and then reached out and pulled her into his arms. “Thank you.”

“You should take Larry away from the party later. Go for a walk outside, by the equestrian statue. Okay?”

“Okay. Have a wonderful Christmas, Rebecca.”


	3. Part Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this took so long, my life fell apart blah blah blah excuses excuses long live Tabletguardians!

When Ahk stepped back out into the foyer with Rebecca by his side, everything got a bit quieter. The room was now fuller with Confederate and Union soldiers, astronauts and gangsters. The Huns had come down from above and broken into the punch and appetizer trays, and when they turned their great, furry heads to the young Pharaoh, their mouths fell open.  
Attila blinked. Then he let out a great bellow and thrust an arm into the air. His men cried out too, and then started banging on the refreshment table, chanting something in their language.  
“I think they like it,” Rebecca said.  
Ahkmenrah was grinning and his cheeks hurt. “Yes.”  
“I have to go. Have a great Christmas.”  
He couldn't help it; he hugged her again. “Thank you.”  
He watched her go. It was snowing faintly outside, fat snowflakes against the black sky and the faint white lights of the street a ways behind them.  
“Is everything ready?” Ahkmenrah asked the Huns.  
Attila gave what seemed to be an affirmation.  
“Wonderful. I'm going to find Larry and Theodore. -Oh! Someone start the music!”  
“I will,” Sacajawea crossed to Larry's mp3 hooked to an external speaker. She had taken to all the new technology better even than Ahkmenrah himself had, such was her adventurous nature.  
As a 70's disco sound started to swell in the dim hall, traversed with roaming colored lights, Ahk started down past the Easter Island Head, who was smiling big with lights strung around his ears. He found Larry and Teddy walking through the deep sea exhibit, among whale sounds and shimmering bluish light that rolled over the whole room.  
“-If Little Texas didn't wander in here, I don't know where...”  
“It doesn't look like it, Teddy.”  
They must have heard Ahkmenrah approach, because they both turned when he stood under the arch of the doorway. Larry's eyes widened, then a smile broke out on his face, and Teddy's mustache lifted at the corners as well. No one spoke for a second, and Ahkmenrah's heart sank.  
“Do I look foolish?”  
“-No,” Larry said, and his eyes scanned the younger man again. “Not at all.”  
Teddy declared, “You look fit for a magazine cover, my boy!”  
“Thank you. Presents from Rebecca, she picked them out… Little Texas is in the lobby, I thought you ought to know...”  
“Splendid, my boy,” Teddy gave the pharaoh a pat on the back as he passed by, and Larry followed. Ahkmenrah made sure to fall into step beside the night guard.  
“Merry Christmas, Larry.”  
“It's not midnight yet,” Larry said, only stealing a glance at the other man.  
“But we won't see you tomorrow, will we? You'll be with Nicholas.”  
“I guess you're right.”  
They turned the corner together and there was the Easter Island head lit up and smiling big. Turned again, going past him as he bellowed, “Merry Christmas!” and there was the main hall, bright and boisterous with party goers and music and plenty of lights.  
Larry stopped in place, his lips parting, then turning up at the sides, little by little as he took it all in.  
Ahkmenrah couldn't help but to ask, “Do you like it?”  
“Wow.”  
“...But do you like it?”  
“-Yeah, yeah, I like it a lot. Did you do all this?”  
“Rebecca helped tremendously.”  
The night guard turned his kind eyes to the Pharaoh and his expression was unreadable. “Well, you guys must have worked pretty hard to throw this all together, let's enjoy it. Punch looks good. Punch?” He aimed a finger-gun at the younger man.  
Ahk nodded hurriedly. “Sure!”  
And Larry sped off, among the Huns still crowded around the refreshments table. They cheered and Attila swept him off the ground while his men started to stumble through 'Jingle Bells' in garbled English.  
Teddy appeared again, and clapped Ahkmenrah on the back. “Good luck, my boy.”  
“Ah… thank you, Teddy.”  
And the president was gone by the time Larry turned and headed back, with two cups of punch in his hands.  
“Here you go.”  
“Thank you.” Ahkmenrah's hands were shaking.  
“Cheers?”  
They clicked their plastic cups together, then drank.  
“I was-.”  
“-Are you-?” Larry froze.  
Ahkmenrah felt blood rush to his cheeks, and exclaimed, “Sorry.”  
“I was just asking, are you feeling better? You've seemed kind of gloomy lately. Teddy and I were worried.”  
“Oh. Were you? That's nice. Yes, I'm sufficiently cheered up, I think. Although it might be nice to get out of the museum for a bit, if you'd care to join me? Just a little walk?”  
“Okay. Everything looks fine in here, so… yeah.”  
Ahk could feel a few people watching them as they walked across the impossibly long foyer. Part of him felt warm with embarrassment, but also there was a strange pride there. Let people look. Let people wonder.  
A rush of cold air blew snowflakes into Ahk's face as Larry opened the door. He battled the gust and slipped out onto the stone steps, bathed in streetlight. When Larry followed, the wind calmed down and the door fell shut, and they started east around the building. Ahkmenrah breathed on his hands, then shoved them in his pockets. Larry pushed out a nervous breath and it clouded in the air.  
“Oh, are you cold?” the night guard asked, and for a second he almost started to take off his jacket.  
“No, I'm fine! Thank you, though...”  
They walked on, and Ahk's face began to hurt from holding back the blistering smile that wanted to break free.  
“Hm,” Larry made an appraising noise in his throat, and had a funny look on his face.  
“What?”  
“I just never thought I'd be spending Christmas Eve with an ancient, Egyptian Pharaoh… I guess I got lucky.”  
Now or never. The words slipped out a bit too excitedly. “-I treasure you, Larry.”  
They came to a stop all at once, and the sweet terror that filled Ahkmenrah, he thought he should savor. The phrase once in a lifetime swam through his mind. They had come to the rearing equestrian statue, and there on its highest hoof, a shiny spring of green dusted with snowflakes, and a few dangling red berries.  
Larry had a little smile on his face as he turned to face the younger man. “Did you do this?”  
“No, Rebecca.” He turned inward, too, and suddenly Larry had taken his hand which shot warmth through him all the way up his arm. “...I'm going to shower her with gold for this.”  
Larry's eyes flitted down to Ahk's lips.  
“My heart is racing,” the pharaoh said.  
“Mm?”  
“At least I think it is,” he stammered. “-It's in a jar, somewhere.”  
That got a little chuckle out of the night guard, and he started to lean in. Ahk leaned in too, licking his lips quickly as he turned his head, and he could almost feel the phantom beat of his heart going a mile a minute, his other hand trembling as he brought it up to grab Larry's face and seal the gap between them.  
Their lips locked, and his head spun, and Larry's lips were so soft, but he parted them and flicked his tongue into the kiss, making Ahk moan low in his throat. He was still beaming even as he opened his mouth to comply.

**Author's Note:**

> This work is gifted to Tabletguardian on Tumblr for the Night at the Museum Secret Santa exchange! Merry Christmas!  
> Part One is so short, I'm sorry! The other two parts will be posted between today (Christmas) and New Year's.


End file.
